


“But when they said, ‘Sit down,’ I stood up”

by Bethynyc



Category: Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Genre: Gen, Past Abuse Mentioned, Pre-Relationship, offstage death of minor character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-24 16:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21880882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bethynyc/pseuds/Bethynyc
Summary: Cameron grows up. They all do.
Comments: 12
Kudos: 68
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	“But when they said, ‘Sit down,’ I stood up”

**Author's Note:**

  * For [twistedchick](https://archiveofourown.org/users/twistedchick/gifts).



1986

Ferris and Cameron finish the rest of their senior year, and it is unexpectedly quiet. Ferris is voted Prom King, dancing the required dance with Simone the Cheerleading Salutatorian. They look beautiful together, but Ferris lights up when he returns to dance with Sloane. 

Cameron goes to Prom with a friend of Sloane’s. Jennifer’s nice; she is in drama club and choir and wants to go to Oberlin or Kent State. Cameron toured both schools with his mom over spring break, and makes decent small talk while they dance. She’s pretty, with wavy auburn hair and a sprinkle of freckles over her nose. She’s a good dancer as well, and he doesn’t feel too awkward during the fast songs. 

Graduation happens. It is actually kind of anticlimactic. 

Ferris’s parents throw him a blow-out graduation party and everyone comes. Ferris has already opened all his gifts for his freshman year at MIT and has changed into swim trunks. Cameron’s off to the side with Jennifer and Sloane, watching Ferris cannonball into the pool as his parents smile indulgently. Jeanie and her really scary boyfriend have taken over the Jacuzzi, and everyone else fills up the yard, around the pool, and inside the house. 

The party is loud and Cameron has a headache. He drifts off to the house, followed by the girls. Ferris appears, damp and laughing, and leads them upstairs to his room. It is quiet there, even when Jennifer puts the Smiths on Ferris’ stereo. The four sit, idly chatting as the party winds down outside. Mrs. Bueller’s laugh wafts through the window. 

Sloane turns to Cameron. “Did you decide where you’re going to go?”

“The decision was kind of taken out of my hands,” said Cameron. “I’m going to University of Illinois in Chicago.”

Ferris sits up. “Wait, what? I thought you were going to Oberlin?”

Cameron shrugs. “Dad wouldn’t pay for it.”

“Because of the car?” Sloane asks in a tiny voice.

Cameron nods. “I didn’t want to say anything, but, well, my folks are splitting up and Mom got a job at UIC. So at least it’s free.” 

“Cameron, I’m…” Ferris’ stricken expression was almost too much.

“Don’t say you’re sorry, Ferris. I said it would be okay, and it was, mostly. His blowup over the car was the last straw for Mom, so now…I’m going to UIC.” He shrugs 

Jennifer places a hand on his shoulder. “That really sucks, Cameron.”

Ferris sits up. “I don’t want us to drift apart, okay?” He sounds fierce in a wholly unexpected way. “Let’s plan to meet up next year, around this time. Every year. Even if we hate each other, even if we haven’t talked.” Ferris looks at Cameron, and in his eyes Cameron sees the eleven year old who took the new kid under his wing. “All four of us. Promise?”

They promise. 

1987 – One Year Later

The next year is easy. Jeanie, Sloane, and Jennifer are graduating, and the Buellers host another big party. Not quite as lavish as Ferris’ but there is still a ton of food and family and presents. The scary boyfriend is gone, and Jeanie is starting at Berkeley in the fall majoring in History. 

“She wanted to be as far away as possible,” says Ferris. The four are in his room—still his room, despite his spending most of the year in Cambridge—and they lounge on the floor, Depeche Mode softly playing on the stereo. 

Jennifer pokes him. “Far away from you!”

“How would you know?” asks Sloane. 

Jennifer shrugs. “We had AP English together.” 

Cameron leans forward. “We didn’t really have a chance to catch up before—where are you two going for college?”

Sloane rolls her eyes as Jennifer bounces on the bed. “I got into Oberlin! I never got to thank you for your suggestions—taking the tour and interviewing with the theater department got me in!”

Cameron smiles. “I’m so happy for you. You absolutely deserve it.” He turns to Sloane. “What about you, Sloane?

“Yes, what about you, Sloane?” says Ferris archly. 

Sloane shoots a glare at him. Cameron is surprised at the tension between them; they are usually so relaxed together. This year must have been difficult for them.

Sloane settles, folding her legs beneath herself and leaning back against the bed. “I was originally planning to attend BU, so I could be closer to Ferris next year.” She takes a deep breath. “But I was offered a full ride in Biology. At UIC.” She glances at Cameron.

“Oh,” says Cameron. 

Jennifer jumps up. “Hey, I’m really hungry. Cameron, do you want to help me see if there’s anything left on the buffet?” She grabs Cameron’s hand and drags him out of Ferris’ room, before closing the door tightly. 

Cameron follows in her wake, too stunned to believe what is happening. Low, angry voices seep out from behind the door. Jennifer turns to him and takes a deep breath. “Maybe they will finally work things out,” she says.

“What, and get back together? Long distance?” Cameron replies.

“No!” She slaps him lightly on the shoulder. “Dumbass. So they will finally break up.”

“Wait, what?” Cameron is confused. He truly believed that he was going to be best man at their wedding. 

Jennifer shakes her head at him, smiling a little. Her eyes are sad, though. “Sloane’s wanted to break up with him for months. Ever since she figured out Prom was going to be during his finals week, and she didn’t want him to skip just for her.”

Cameron is still confused, but lets it go. There are still a few people around, mostly friends of the Bueller parents, and Jeanie is sitting on the edge of the pool, wearing a UC Berkeley shirt and kicking her feet in the water. She’s smiling and happy, talking to a friend. Suddenly she laughs, and he can see how similar she is to Ferris. 

At the buffet, Jennifer starts piling food on a plate, so he does as well. They sit at one of the tables brought in for the event. They sit in silence for a little bit, and Cameron enjoys the club sandwich he picked up from the buffet. 

Finally, he gets up his courage and swallows. “So, breakup?”

“Yup.”

Cameron nods until he feels foolish. “Any reason?”

Jennifer laughs, a short, sharp sound. “Sloane is really good for Ferris. Ferris is really bad for Sloane. Sloane finally realized it, and now they are breaking up.”

Cameron ponders for a moment. “You know, I see that. Now that you say it.”

“So, now I have a question for you, Cameron Frye,” Jennifer says. “Why did you answer my letters?”

“So you’d keep sending them,” says Cameron.

1991—Five Years Later

Cameron gets the letter about his high school reunion and almost decides not to go, when he realizes that it’s the same weekend as the annual get together. He kind of wants to see Ferris. They fell behind on writing each other, and the reunion is as good a reason as any. He still writes to Jennifer, having become pen pals of a sort. He likes it. 

He and Sloane had hung out a lot her freshman year, but when she switched her major to pre-med and he finally decided on Art History, their schedules didn’t mesh enough for regular time together. They’d wave across the plaza, or say hi in the library, and that’s about it. Then he was away for a year, then graduated.

Now he’s an assistant at Gallery 400, gaining valuable experience before applying to MFA programs. It’s much better the fast food jobs he’d worked through his undergrad years, grimly determined to need nothing from Morris. Cameron enjoys the gallery job; designing the space for flow between the artists, typing up the labels for the artwork—even arguing with the electricians who set up the lighting for the shows. He’s _good_ at this. 

A week after he decides to go, he’s at the gallery when Sloane walks in. She looks so tired but also beautiful in a heartbreaking way, and Cameron realizes that she is his friend, still, even though they’ve grown apart. 

They hug, and he shows her around the gallery. Finally, she pulls him aside. “Can I ask for a favor?” 

Cameron smiles at her. “Of course.”

“Could I ride with you to the reunion? I don’t have a car, and, well…” She twists her ponytail nervously. “I should be doing MCAT prep, but I haven’t gone at all, and, well, I kind of miss them.”

“We did promise,” says Cameron carefully. He doesn’t want to scare her off, but she pointedly avoided discussing Ferris and their breakup when she first started at UIC, so he never brought it up. 

Sloane sighs. “Yeah, I know. But I was sick of being _Ferris Bueller’s girlfriend_ , you know? You know!”

“I know.” Cameron grins at her. “It’s nice, being Cameron Frye, future curator, rather than Ferris Bueller’s Best Friend.”

“Thank you. I think I’m ready to see him again. As Sloane Peterson, future doctor.”

~*~*~*~

They meet at Jennifer’s parental home. It is the first time all four of them have reunited since Sloane and Jennifer graduated, and at the start it is a little awkward, but then Ferris puts almost an entire slice of pepperoni pizza in his mouth and Jennifer snort-laughs and Sloane says “You are so _gross_ , Ferris,” and it is like they are back in high school and everything is simple and the worst thing they have to worry about is detention. 

Jennifer waves at hand at them. She’s cut her hair in a spiky pixie style and has a row of rings pierced along each ear. “Go around and catch us up! Cameron, you go first!”

“Why me?” Cameron whines, and he’s surprised at how easy that is. 

She smirks. “Alphabetical order.”

Cameron tells the group about his gallery job and how he’s applying to MFA programs. How he likes modern art, but his heart is with the Post-Impressionists. How he’s kind of okay with not being in a relationship right now. 

He says more than he really wanted to, and stops to gulp his beer. “Ferris’ turn,” he says, after he swallows. 

Ferris has graduated from MIT, and was recruited by a previous whiz-kid of the school to start a computer gaming company in Seattle. “David Lightman is really awesome, super nice guy, better with computers than people. He wants me to help with the marketing and so on, as well as the coding.” If all goes well, he’ll be part owner of a huge company. “And if not, well, I guess I’ll find something else. I have a degree from MIT, that’s got to be worth something.”

Jennifer has graduated from Oberlin having switched her major to creative writing, and is waiting to hear back from Yale School of Drama regarding their MFA program. Sloane talks about the MCATs and wanting to specialize as an OB-GYN. 

Ferris looks at her, impressed. “Wow, Sloane! That’s amazing!” 

Cameron’s proud of him. Ferris really has grown.

1996—Ten Years After

The original plan is to meet up in June, at the lake house owned by the Bueller parents. Instead they meet in April. Sloane’s father’s has died, and they all come together to support Sloane at the funeral and after.

In the church, Sloane and her mother are leaning on each other, and her mother is sobbing. Her two younger brothers are standing with an older woman; Cameron isn’t sure if she’s an aunt or grandmother. He and Ferris are solemn in dark suits with ties. He’d like to joke that they just need earpieces to look like secret service agents, but this isn’t the place. 

Cameron’s heart aches for Sloane. She’s worked so hard over the past years; she is already a fantastic doctor. He believes in her and her goals for herself. She doesn't deserve this pain.

The funeral is long, and Cameron doesn’t really listen until Sloane steps up to the podium and unfolds a speech. It’s about how much her father supported her, encouraged her even back when she didn’t know what she wanted. How she considered dropping AP Bio in high school and he persuaded her to keep it up. How he was her inspiration to become a doctor, and how much he cared for their family through everything. 

“My father, George Peterson, didn’t believe in limits. He never allowed me to be limited by being a girl. He championed my choice to major in biology, to switch to pre-med, to apply to the best medical schools. He supported me when I felt most alone. I’m going to miss him so much. We are all going to miss him, his love, his unwavering care for his family and friends. The gap in our lives left behind by my father’s passing will remain with us, always.”

Sloane and her words are so strong. Cameron feels tears coming to his eyes and wipes them away with the heel of his hand. 

He wishes his father had been worthy of words like this.

After, he hugs Sloane tightly. “Anything you need, okay? Just let me know. Ice cream at midnight. A ride home after a night shift.” Cameron wants to say more, but his throat closes, and he can only hold her, feeling her arms around him as well. He can feel Ferris and Jennifer nearby, but right now it is just Cameron and Sloane.

“Thank you, Cam,” she whispers in his ear. Then she presses a soft kiss on his cheek.

Cameron thinks he might be a little in love with her. He also thinks she might know.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "Growin' Up" by Bruce Springsteen  
> Many thanks to my beta to be named after the reveal.
> 
> Dear twistedchick--I hope you enjoy the story! Your prompts led me in this direction, and it was a great ride!


End file.
